31/01/2019

Two Guinness Campaigns – #ThePurse Shared Values & #GuinnessClear Responsible Drinking – Activate New 6 Nations Title Sponsorship

On the eve of the 2019 Guinness Six Nations the new tournament title sponsor launched two parallel campaigns – one revolving around responsible drinking and the other based on rugby’s shared values – as the brand seeks to further deepen its long-standing rugby relationship, help grow the game and to improve the fan experience at the world’s most prestigious annual rugby tournament.

 

#ThePurse: Rugby’s Shared Values

 

The shared values activation strand revolves around rugby’s role in supporting and spreading integrity, inclusivity, authenticity and strength and is spearheaded by a true story spot.

 

The lead commercial, called ‘The Purse’, tells a real-life story of brothers David and Gareth Rees and their late-mother Olive, who left them her inheritance with just one single condition: they can only use the money to follow the Welsh rugby side.

 

David and Gareth themselves star in the spot which sees them follow the Welsh national side right across Europe: making some friends with rival fans along the way.

 

 

The Purse, which aligns with and echoes the brand’s umbrella ‘Made of More’ positioning (which is based on human character), launched on national television and then runs across digital and social channels.

 

It is supported by game-relevant Guinness athlete ambassadors and also offers rugby fans a chance to share their own stories across Guinness’ social networks to enrich everyone’s values-based rugby experience.

 

“[When considering a partner] we look at the type of audience they’re looking to attract and we look at shared values,” said Diageo’s head of European beer business Jeremy Kanter.

 

“We believe in the power of sport and think rugby is a wonderful way to connect with people. The Six Nations is a great fit because there’s a shared value in rugby’s honour code of integrity, authenticity, inclusivity and strength, which are all values of the Guinness brand. Across all channels of communications, you’re going to see more stories around this combination of passion and rivalry and of course humanity and friendship. We’ve always done a lot around fan experience and that’s only going to become even richer.”

 

#GuinnessClear: Responsible Drinking

 

The ‘water themed’ responsible drinking initiative – #GuinnessClear – was introduced by brand ambassadors and rugby legends Brian O’Driscoll and Lawrence Dallaglio at a media event that also saw the debut of thee campaign’s hero television commercial.

 

In a slightly surpirsing move, the iconic black stout is absent from the creative, developed in harness with agency Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO, as the campaign aims to make rugby fans more comfortable with ordering a pint of water in the pub.

 

Rolled out on 31 January, 24 hours ahead of the first game of this year’s competition, the initiative saw Irish international rugby icon O’Driscoll and England World Cup winning flanker Dallaglio spearhead a launch event at St James’s Gate.

 

The #GuinnessClear launch, at Guinness’ famous Dublin brewery home, introduced a multi-strand programme aimed at encouraging all rugby fans to drink responsibly throughout the Guinness Six Nations by drinking ‘Guinness Clear’ (tap water) to moderate their drinking choices.

 

The event was amplified by digital and social content led by a brand video and linked by the hashtag #GuinnessClear.

 

 

 

The players also promoted the initiative across their own social channels.

 

 

The rugby activation strand is just part of a wider Guiness Clear campaign that also saw the launch of a new television commercial that blends the comic with the serrious oin a sort of H2O/GuinnessClear rebrand that sees drinkers exaggeratedly enjoying a pint of water (in a signature Guinness glass) while a voiceover enthuses about its flavour.

 

The copy reads: “Guinness Clear, 100% H20, available from all good taps nationwide.

 

 

The integrated initiative will also see ‘Guinness Clear’ have a heavy presence at home nations’ stadiums throughout the tournament in an on-site/at-stadium activation strand that spans branded water fonts and Guinness Clear sampling teams giving water to match-goers.

 

This activation strand follows on from the brand’s work leveraging the 23 January official tournament launch,

 

 

 

 

and local market work such as its #GuinnessGreenwoodSeries activation with ambassador Will Greenwood.

 

 

 

The Guinenes Clear work was devleoped by an Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO team that included copy writer Tim Riley, art director by Zak Loney and creative directors Nicholas Hulley and Nadja Lossgott, while the spot was helmed by Tom Kuntz through MJZ and Pull The Trigger and media was handled by Carat.

 

“At Guinness, responsible drinking is something we take very seriously,” explained Mark Sandys, global head of beer, Baileys and Smirnoff at Diageo.

 

“With the launch of Guinness Six Nations, we wanted to ensure we delivered this important message to sports fans in a compelling way and so Guinness Clear was born. We want to make sure that ordering water, no matter the context, is an active and positive choice by the millions of fans who will be watching and attending the Guinness Six Nations over the next six weeks.”

 

Comment:

 

Mixing the humorous with the serious, rugby fans and marketers seem to admire the creative, even if they question whether they will themselves sign up to the pledge.

 

 

This is Guinness’s first activation since it took over the tournament’s title sponsorship from the Royal Bank of Scotland and it has chosen to follow a well trodden path for drinks brand sports sponsorships: namely using their partnership rights to promote their umbrella responsible drinking work.

 

Other examples of this strategy range from Crown Royal Whiskey and the NFL’s ‘Hydrate Generously’ (see case study) and Heineken and Formula One’s ‘When You Drive Never Drink’ (see case study)

 

The new Six Nations partnership, which was officially announced back in December,

 

 

will see activation building on Guinness’ strong heritage of rugby related marketing that includes its 2014 ‘made Of More’ home nations ads (see case study), the brilliant 2015 short film series (see case study) and its dynamic OOH utility from 2017 (see case study).

 

As well as the usual title sponsor on-pitch, on-post and pitchside perimeter ads, plus in-stadium screens and banners, plus on-ticket brand messaging, other strands of the title sponsor brand’s tournament activation programme included in-pub and Guinness Villages (such as the one in London’s Flat Iron Square) which include free pint entry vouchers, plus brand messaging on pint glasses, beer mats, point of sale, t-shirts, banners and Guinness Clear hydration stations.

 

Guinness is certainly pulling out the stops to own the tournament moment.

 

Guinness’ big picture, top line objective behind the tie-up is to use it to become ‘the world’s number one rugby brand’.

 

Links:

 

Guinness

www.Guinness.com

https://www.facebook.com/Guinness

https://twitter.com/guinnessgb

https://www.youtube.com/user/GuinnessEurope

 

6 Nations Championship

http://www.rbs6nations.com

https://www.facebook.com/sixnationsrugby

https://twitter.com/SixNationsRugby

https://www.youtube.com/sixnations

https://www.instagram.com/sixnationsrugby/

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/official-rbs-6-nations-championship-app/id489164343?mt=8

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.accenture.android.rbs6nations&hl=en_GB

 

Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO

https://www.amvbbdo.com/en

 



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